SB Xylonite

Xylonite is one of seven Thames barges built between 1925 and 1930 for F W Horlock, Mistley. She was sold by the Horlocks in 1958 and cut down to a motor barge in 1958. Xylonite was re-rigged in the 1970s by Tim Eliff and replated on the 1980s. She has been used for sail training since 1983.

Xylonite-at Maldon in 2017i
History
United Kingdom
Name:
  • Proposed name BX (1926-26)
  • Name Xylonite(1926-)
Owner: F W Horlock, Mistley
Builder: Mistley Shipping Company[1]
Launched: 1926
Identification:
  • Historic Ships Register Certificate 236
  • United Kingdom Official Number 145408
General characteristics
Class and type: Thames barge
Tonnage: 68 GRT
Length: 86.95 feet (26.50 m)
Beam: 18.49 feet (5.64 m)
Draught: 2.98 feet (0.91 m)
Propulsion: Sails (Gardner 85hp 5 cylinder (5LW) aux.)[1]
Sail plan: Spritsail with bowsprit
Notes: Website: xylonite.co.uk

Description

Xylonite is 86.95 feet (26.50 m) long, with a beam of 18.49 feet (5.64 m) and a draught of 2.98 feet (0.91 m). She is assessed at 68 GRT. She is built of steel, and while lacking the romance of a wooden ship, she has a greater cargo carrying capacity, and is lighter and cheaper to operate.[2] The name Xylonite derives from the original 1869 name for celluloid.

History

In 1924 the Horlocks commissioned seven new steel Thames barges, of which Xylonite was the third. Six of these ‘seven sisters’ are still afloat: Blue Mermaid was lost to a mine in World War 2. [3] They were built at Mistley.

The Horlocks steel barges- the seven sisters
NameActiveBuiltTonsOfficial no.Current owner
RepertorYes192469145404David Pollock
PortlightNo192568145405Landbreach Ltd
XyloniteYes192668145408Tim Kent
ReminderYes192979161033Topsail Charters Ltd
AdieuYes192979161035Iolo Brooks
Blue MermaidNo193079161038(destroyed)
ResourcefulNo193077161039I & R Stubbs
Ref[2]As of 2016

Xylonite was built in 1926 and delivered to Frederick William Horlock,(F.W. Horlock) who owned her for the first ten years. On 30 October 1936 Xylonite was sold to Marcus Frederick Horlock and Walter Richard Horlock. And on 31 October 1938 she was registered to M.F. Horlock and Company Ltd. Horlocks barges sailed under a blue burgee blazoned with a white maltese cross.[4][5][6]

She was sold in August 1958 to The Greenhithe Lighterage Company Ltd and the Tester family. She was cut down to a motor barge, with all rigging removed and a new wheelhouse. The rear hold was modified to take a diesel engine. She carried cargo until June 1977.[6]

From 1977 to 1984 she was owned by Tim and Brigid Eliff. They restored her to sail and rerigged her and she was run as a charter barge from the alongside the Prospect of Whitby pub in Wapping. She was chartered to Hoseasons, and carried purple coloured Duradon sails. The topmast was made from steel and would often buckle.[6]

For the next twenty-two years, from 1984-2007 she was run by the Cirdan Trust, who used her to give sailing experiences to underprivileged children. This trust was run by Bill Broad, an Anglican churchman, his wife Daphne and John Corder Belfrage.[6] The barge skipper Rebecca Polden and her partner bought her next, and did some serious restoration work and sold her on in summer 2011. They used her as a houseboat at Maylandsea.[6]

Tim Kent, a London based photographer operated her between 2011 and 2016 on the Medway and the London River. [6]

The United Kingdom Official Number was 145408

A replica of the Blue Mermaid is being constructed, and she was launched 28 May 2016 for the Sea-Change Sailing Trust.[7][8] She will operate out of the Heybridge Basin.

Media
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References

Citations
  1. "Specifications - XYLONITE". XYLONITE. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  2. Kent, Tim. "Xylonite and her sisters - XYLONITE". XYLONITE. Retrieved 22 March 2018. Ref:
  3. Benham 1986, p. 99.
  4. http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/236/xylonite
  5. Benham 1986, pp. 96, 99, 100.
  6. "Timeline - XYLONITE". XYLONITE. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  7. "Thames Barge - C Toms & Son Ltd". C Toms & Son Ltd. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  8. "C Toms & Son". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.

Bibliography
  • Benham, Hervey; Kershaw, Philip; Finch, Roger (1986). Down tops'l : the story of the East Coast sailing-barges (3rd ed.). London: Harrap. ISBN 0-245-54487-9.
  • Carr, Frank (1951). Sailing Barges (Revised ed.). Peter Davies Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • March, Edgar (1948). "Spritsail barges of Thames and Medway". London: Percival Marshal.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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